Dance with the Devil
by Belial the Liar
Summary: What if Rias befriended Issei as a human, before his fateful date with Raynare? Rias x Issei fluff, read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**This...is a new one for me. Okay, bit of a preface. I finally started working on the Tiamat idea I got pitched to me a while back. That goes good, get about 2500 words put down. Buuuut, then an idea for an Ophis fic stung me in the ass, so I started working on _that_, and got about 4000 words. BUUUUUT, there was a scene with Issei and Rias, and I accidentally made them have suuuch good chemistry, and...ugh. **

**Long story short, Belial accidentally wrote the prologue to a Rias fluff. **

**Tell me if you like it! If no one wants it, I'm not doing it. Rias is horribly overused, but I figured I'd try my hand at this as a break from His Angel. If you like the idea, give me some suggestions and stuff. I'll shut up now, so hurry and read. Be sure to tell me your thoughts. **

* * *

Issei lay in the grass, a soft wind blowing over him and lightly rustling the tranquil trees above him, sending a single leaf fluttering down onto his nose.

"Cozy?"

Issei cracked an eye, wondering who'd disturb him. It was a important-looking girl with red hair and blue-green eyes, standing over him with a mischievous smirk.

"I was." Issei said shortly, closing his eye again.

"Napping on the first day of school. Honestly, I should tell the council."

"Not napping, just...existing."

"Right, existing. You're not, uh...you're not high, right?"

"No."

"Just checking. That was a pretty high thing to say. Well, why don't you just _exist_ at the orientation, instead of out here in my garden?"

"It's too noisy over there. Too many people, all talking nonsense. Your garden was quiet, peaceful, nice. _Was_ being the active word, there."

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were shooing me out of my own garden, Issei Hyoudou."

"You know me?" Issei cracked an eye again, looking once more at the intruding girl.

"I do. Issei Hyoudou, now a second year, star student. Kind of a loner, but extroverted when he needs to be."

"I'm mildly honored, and mildly creeped out. You're Rias, right? I overhear a lot of talk about you. Rias...Gregothy?"

"..."

After a brief silence, Rias laughed out loud. She started laughing so much that a tear fell from her eye, and she sat down on the ground so she wouldn't fall over.

Issei watched her with the one eye, wondering what was so funny. Her laughter was contagious, though, and soon he was grinning widely too.

After a moment, Rias finally composed herself, wiping her face.

"It's _Gremory_. Rias _Gremory_."

"Well, I mean, I was pretty close."

Rias giggled. "If you say so. I'm surprised you didn't know it, honestly. Most of the guys in your class worship the ground I walk on."

"Humble, aren't you?"

"I didn't mean it like that, it's just...weird, I guess. To be treated like a princess by people you don't even know." Rias said, solemn. Normally, this wasn't a topic she'd talk about with someone she'd literally _just_ met, but something about Issei just made him easy to communicate with.

"I bet. It's weird enough that _you _know my name, but for a whole class doting over me? I'd die. I much prefer to just sit in the back and be unknown. Hence, why I'm laying in your garden."

"I'd like that too, I think."

Issei let out a good-natured sigh and pat the grass next to him. Rias contemplated for a second, then joined him. It was more relaxing than she thought.

"So, you're a...third year, right? Aren't you skipping orientation too?"

"Optional for third years. I had something to take care of with my club, so I did that, and then I just didn't feel like going, so I thought I'd come check on the clump of weeds in my garden. He's still here."

Issei laughed, not expecting to be called a clump of weeds.

"Oh well. You know what just occurred to me? If your boyfriend finds us, he might get the wrong idea."

"Boyfriend? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Really? The great Rias Gregothy herself doesn't have a boyfriend? I'm shocked."

"Well, there's someone, but...I hate his guts. My family is making me marry him, after I graduate." Rias cringed at having to mention her fiance. "Please, let's not talk about that. He's pushing the engagement now more than ever."

"Must be hard, being so above us average folk that you still have to worry about outdated stuff like arranged marriages. My heart goes out to you. Tell him to screw off."

Rias laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, I wish it was that easy."

A comfortable silence ensued, both of them just feeling the breeze and enjoying each other's company.

"I got asked on a date, yesterday."

"Really? Exciting. Who was it?"

"A girl named Yuuma Amano. Not from our school, never even seen the uniform before."

"What'd you say?"

"Told her I'd think about it. I dunno if I'm really feeling the dating life. I kinda like being by myself, you know?...Kinda."

"You said kinda twice."

"It's a two-kinda kinda thing, sister."

Rias laughed again. They two sat in silence, merely basking in the shade and cool breeze.

"It's time for us to go, President."

Issei and Rias both looked over at the source of the new voice, an elegant looking girl with crazy long black hair tied up in with orange ribbon.

Rias sighed and stood up, Issei following suit. They both dusted themselves off, and Rias turned to Issei, who was preparing to leave.

"Hey, Issei? You don't mind if I call you Issei, right?"

"As long as I don't have to call you Gremory. It's a mouthful."

Rias smiled again. "Rias is fine. Let me give you my number, you seem fun."

"It's all a facade. I'm actually super boring." Issei took his smartphone out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Rias smirked as she entered her number into his contacts, then handed the phone back.

"Alright Akeno, I'm good to go. Don't be a stranger, Issei." Rias walked off, leaving the bewildered black haired girl and Issei standing alone.

Akeno, regaining her composure, turned to him. "Issei, huh? Just a heads up, you're the only boy she's ever given her number." She eyed him up and down, like one might assess a piece of meat. "You are kinda cute. I'm Akeno. Hope we see each other again~..." Akeno said, winking and walking in the same direction as Rias.

Issei, now alone amongst the trees and grass and flowers of Rias' garden, looked around. He didn't really know what to do with himself, having successfully talked to the two most popular girls in school and apparently impressed both of them.

"Cute…" Issei mumbled to himself, cheeks red, as he slowly walked back to the school building with a dumb smile on his face. One of the school idols had called him cute, and the other had given him her number.

Score!

* * *

**So, like I said, this sprung from an Ophis fic. I literally ripped the scene out and just changed some things, so that's this. Super short, obviously, but it's just me getting a grip on this; I never saw myself actually doing a Rias story, but now I kinda like it. **

**PLEASE****, ****for the love of God, give me some suggestions. Give me some ideas, or plot points, or something. I don't use Rias. Tell me _something_. **

**Anyway, leave a review and such. It's only like 1,000 words, so I'm not expecting much; but tell me something. Tell me how your day's been, I don't care. I generally reply to stuff, as long as it's not just 'good chap' or something like that. **

**If I go on too much longer, this AN will be longer than the story. Peace out. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Wasn't sure I'd give this one another update- as it turns out, some of the more hardcore Rias fanboys can be _really_ annoying. Guys, let me tell you- going on my other stories and saying shit along the lines of "Raynare bad, Rias good, update other story cus this one sucks" is the best way to make me _not_ update anything. Literally, most of the reason I've postponed this update so long is spite. But, oh well, here we are. Hope you enjoy, read and review. **

* * *

Issei sat alone at the lunch table furthest from the door, tucked in a corner. All by himself, (by choice of course) he had a book in hand and a half-finished tray of whatever garbage the school had cooked up that day.

It was the same routine just about every day. Issei sat alone, read a book, went back class at the end of lunch. Nobody bothered him, he didn't bother anybody. And that was how he liked it.

Of course, a certain redhead didn't really care much for any of that.

"Hi, Issei."

"Rias? You have this lunch?"

"Uh, yeah? You haven't seen me?" Rias asked, mildly-offended-but not-really.

"Guess I wasn't looking. So, uh, not to be a dick, but...what are you doing here?" Issei asked, not putting down his book.

Rias had just sat down at Issei's table, much to the chagrin of her unofficial fanclub. She didn't have a food tray or anything, just her bookbag and a smile.

"What do you mean? I came to sit with you." She answered, smiling.

"Why? I mean, uh...like, why me? I'm sure there's a ton of other people you'd rather sit with." Issei asked, tumbling over his words in a way entirely out of character with what Rias had seen so far.

"Not really. Believe it or not, I don't have just a whole lot of friends, and the ones I do aren't at this lunch. So, I came to sit with you. Is that alright?" Rias asked, tilting her head.

Issei, out of reasons to deny her, just smiled. In an instant he regained his usual composure. "Sure, why not? As long as you can keep your lovers from attacking me, that is."

Issei gestured to behind Rias, where the next table over was full of boys glaring holes into him just for being near their idol.

Rias just sighed. "Ignore them, please, I really wish I didn't have all this attention, to be honest."

"Well, I dunno. As our school's resident wallflower, let me be the first to tell you it's not all it's cracked up to be. You're the first person to ever sit with me, actually."

Rias look surprised. "Really?"

Issei nodded, finally putting his book down. He memorized the page he was on, closed it, and laid it on the table, giving the redhead his full attention.

"Really. I'm not a fan of too many people anyway, but still. Must be nice to be a celebrity sometimes."

"It has its perks, but I think I'd rather blend in with the crowd."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you blended in well enough that I never noticed you had my lunch. Or that you existed, for that matter."

"I can't tell if that should hurt my feelings or not."

"Would you rather I be one of those lap dogs over there?"

"No, no, definitely not. So, anyway, did you decide if you were going to go on that date with...what was her name? Yuuma?"

"Yuuma, yeah. Nah, I turned her down. Something about her gave me some seriously bad vibes."

"Well, I guess that's good- wait. Seriously bad vibes? What are you, one of those new age mystic types? Do you read fortunes?" Rias asked, giggling.

Issei wasn't hurt by the comment, in fact-

"Well, as a matter-of-fact, I do! So glad you asked."

He was delighted.

"Wait, really? You _actually_ read fortunes?" Rias asked, a hint of disbelief in her gaze.

"Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, not _fortunes_, in the literal sense- more like personalities. Want me to do yours?" Issei asked, already digging around in his backpack.

"Sure, why not. Is it magic?" Rias asked, smirking.

Now, that was a bit of a loaded question, but Issei answered in kind.

"Sure is. Everything is, if you look at it right."

With a triumphant 'ah-ha!' Issei pulled a deck of odd cards from his backpack.

"Tarot cards? Don't you know those are just a gimmick?" Rias asked, intrigued nonetheless.

"Oh, by themselves, sure. It's you and me that make the magic, red. Check it out."

In a fluid and obviously well-practiced sleight-of-hand trick, Issei flicked the cards out over their table, spreading them evenly out in front of Rias. There were twenty-two, one for each of the major arcana of the Tarot deck.

The girl looked on in admiration for the neat display of card-skills.

"Well, let's get started. How you feelin' today, sister?" Issei asked, a glint in his eye and a smirk on his face.

"Well, I-"

"Ah-ah-ah, don't tell me. Pick a card." Issei said, gesturing out over the upside down cards.

Rias pointed to one, and Issei slid it over towards himself, then pointed back at the rest.

"What's something you _really_ want? More than anything else?" Issei asked, only slightly more serious.

Rias, without hesitation, picked another card. Issei, once again, slid it towards himself.

"Doing great. Two more questions."

"Are you sure this is magic? I feel like I'm getting swindled at a carnival."

"Helluva carnival, huh? Anyway, next question. How do you see yourself?"

Rias pondered this one for a second, but hesitantly picked a card. Once again, Issei slid the face-down card over to him, before asking his last question.

"Alright, last one. Ready?"

"Sure, I'm eager to see what you've got."

"You and me both. So, here it is: what's your natural hair color? No way in hell it's _that_ red."

Rias, not expecting that at all, laughed out loud. Issei noted how pristine and beautiful her laugh was, and couldn't help but smile a bit with her.

Once she calmed down, she wiped a tear from her eye and inhaled deeply, trying to compose herself.

"Well, if you must now, it _is _naturally that red, thank you." Rias said sarcastically twirling her hair around her right index finger, making Issei chuckle.

"Alright, for real this time. What would you like to do with your life?"

Now, this time, Issei didn't let her pick just any card. Of the nineteen remaining cards, Issei pulled ten away, leaving a row of nine in front of Rias. She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"Why'd you pull those away? I was about to pick one of them." She asked, pointing at the cards he'd pulled away.

"I don't want you to," Issei replied, looking her in the eyes and pushing the line of cards straight off the table and onto the floor.

"Well, maybe I will anyway," Rias said, before ducking under the table and grabbing one of the fallen cards.

Issei, now put in a compromising position of sitting at a table with Rias Gremory on all fours underneath him, was suddenly subject to the death stares of every kid in the room.

Rias came back up, with a card in her hand, facing away from her and towards Issei.

Idly, he remarked that her card was the Hierophant, upside down.

'_How very fitting,' _he thought.

Smiling like she'd won, she slapped the card face down and slid it towards Issei, amongst the other three she'd chosen.

"Alright, alright, alright...Let's see what we got!" Issei, making a big show out of the whole thing, acted like he was about to flip them all over…

...before sliding every card, even the ones she hadn't chosen, back into his backpack.

Rias looked flabbergasted.

Issei had a shit-eating grin.

"Why'd you do that?" Rias asked, trying to understand.

Issei began picking up the cards on the ground, ignoring the girl. She ducked under the table, waving at him.

"Uh, hello…? Earth to Issei~."

Finished collecting his cards, Issei came back up, Rias following him.

He sighed, then looked her in the eyes.

"You're probably thinking, what was the point of me picking all those cards if he was just gonna put the back in the backpack, right?" Issei asked, smiling.

"Well...yeah." Rias said, mildly confused.

"See, here's the real trick. You said it yourself- tarot cards don't have any magic to 'em. The magic...is in the presentation. Riddle me this, what's the first question I asked you?"

"How my day was going."

"And it's going pretty good, right?"

"Yes, but...how did you know that?"

"The look on your face. What was the second question?"

"What I want more than anything else."

"See, that's where the real magic kicked in. That first question? A throwaway, to make sure you know how to play the game. Know what was important about drawing the second card, though?"

Rias didn't reply, she just tilted her head.

"It wasn't the card itself," Issei leaned in, getting closer to Rias. "It was how _fast_ you picked it," He explaining, whispering.

Rias blinked. "What?"

"See, you coulda picked any card in this deck, and it wouldn't have mattered. It's still just a card, laid out in a random order that you never would've known. That's why a tarot deck is so unreliable. Now, what _was_ reliable, was how fast you picked. Because you picked so quick, I'm guessing you only want one thing, more than anything else, and you know exactly what it is?" Issei asked, squinting.

Rias, impressed, sat back. "Wow. No, you're right. But that's more of a mind game than anything."

"Oh, totally. But we aren't done yet. Knowing what I do about you, I'd wager to say that all you want is to break free of that marriage, right? With the dickhead."

Rias nodded slowly, pursing her lips. Now she understood the game, and realized Issei may be smarter than she gave him credit for.

"And then, for the third question. I asked you how you see yourself, and you hesitated- that means you don't really know. Maybe you'd like to see yourself one way, but your actions paint a different picture? Maybe you wanna be one person, but can't help but be someone else. Who could say? I don't know you well enough to guess one way or another. But then, what really told me a lot, was the last question."

"Really? Enlighten me." Rias, now extremely interested in Issei's parlor tricks, was eager to see what he'd gleaned from the rest of his game. He'd been right on every count so far, though she might not admit it.

"Don't mind if I do. What I did, was give you nineteen options. Then, when you were about to pick, I took most of them away. You didn't like that, and you went for one of the stolen ones anyway. What that tells me, is that you _hate_ when people try to decide stuff for you, and if I had to wager a guess, it means that all you want to do in your life is to make your _own_ path, instead of other people makin' it for you. Right?"

Rias was silently stunned. All of that was stuff that you could easily figure out, given that you knew her for a while- but Issei had talked to her all of twice, maybe fifteen minutes altogether, and he'd already pieced together major parts of her personality and life goals based on a little game. She was more than impressed, even if it was just some mind tricks.

"Wow, no, that's completely right. You got me. I'm impressed." Rias said, giving him a little round of applause.

Issei gave a little bow, grinning. "See what I meant, though? The cards don't really mean anything, it's just you and me making the magic."

"That is neat, I will admit. Know any other fun tricks?"

"Well, just one more." Issei put his hands together, covering his four left fingers with his two leftmost fingers on his right hand. When he pulled his right hand away, it appeared as if his left thumb had disappeared- the classic vanishing thumb trick.

The two shared another laugh, Rias yet again surprised by Issei's goofy jokes, only for them to get cut off by the school's bell- lunch was over.

As everyone began collecting their things and moving to their next classes, Issei and Rias stopped in front of the door- they were going separate directions.

"Oh, well. That was the most fun I've had in a while, actually. I hope you don't mind if I sit with you more often."

"Oh sure, don't let me stop you. As long as your fanclub stays the hell away from my kneecaps, I'm good."

Rias laughed. "See you later, Issei."

* * *

**Once again, I'm always taking chapter/scene ideas for this story because to be frank I have no idea where it's going. If you don't get what a scene idea means, it's like a premise- [Rias and Issei at an arcade] [Rias and Issei talking to the student council about being in trouble] that kind of thing. It's just the most basic idea for a piece of the story, but it's the easiest to work with. To be honest, if you give me a scene idea that's good enough, I'll write the story around it. That's literally how half the story for His Angel happened, cus someone proposed the scene 'raynare telling issei she's pregnant.' Anyway, yeah. Give me ideas, is basically what I'm saying. **

**Hoped you guys liked the chapter, and seriously- don't rag on my other stories expecting me to update this one more. It won't work, I promise. **

**See you next mission!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Still got no idea where I wanna take this one, but I'm getting a better picture of Rias' character, so that's good. Not much to say up here, enjoy the chapter. **

* * *

Issei sat in his last class of the day, twiddling his thumbs and waiting for the sweet release of the bell to set him free. The class was English, and even though he was already fluent, they made him take it regardless. Of course, nobody _knew _that he was fluent except the student council president, who was also an apt speaker of the language.

'_You still need to take it, to refine your grammar if nothing else.' _The bespectacled class president had said, in english.

Issei harrumphed in his seat, drawing glances from some kids nearby.

"If you're so eager to leave, Mister Hyoudou, why don't you translate this for me?" The teacher asked, before writing down a phrase on the board in Japanese.

Because nobody knew Issei was fluent in English, (though many suspected) he would always pretend to be bad at it in class to annoy his instructor. That said, whenever the teacher got a little full of herself, he liked to remind her to stay humble.

"_Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?" _Issei said flawlessly, shooting the teacher a cocky grin. She was a particularly abrasive person, and had chosen a tongue twister in the hopes of stumping even Kuoh's up-and-coming star student.

She had failed, and the disgruntled teacher made an almost unnoticeable 'tch' sound before returning to her normal lecture.

Right when she began, however, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the day. Issei was out of the classroom before anyone could say 'hey' and he was quick to make his escape.

Or, at least, he attempted to. For what seemed like the millionth time in the past two days, his solitude was foiled by a redhead.

"Where are you headed off to in such a hurry, Issei?" Rias asked, approaching him from behind.

Issei sighed, then turned around and smiled. It was a strange thing, to be addressed so casually by the school's number one beauty.

"Just headed home. Got a little stuffy in that classroom, so I wanted to bail. You?"

"I'm heading home myself. Surprisingly enough, I've got nothing to do this afternoon." Rias, being who she was, almost _always_ had herself wrapped up in some kind of club or school business.

"Cool."

The two of them walked amidst all the other people in the hallway, both kids sticking out like sore thumbs- Issei because of his vehement refusal to wear the school's uniform properly (he preferred to open it up and wear a t-shirt) and Rias because of her hair, naturally.

"So how's your day been?" Rias asked, smiling her usual evanescent smile.

"Boring as hell, the usual. Thought about skipping for a while, but when I went into the hallway to leave, I saw the council pres glaring at me. Gave me the chills."

Rias laughed. "Yeah, Sona doesn't take any nonsense."

"Sona? I thought it was Souna, or something like that. Guess I misheard."

"No, you're right. We've just been close for a while, so I call her Sona." Rias explained, not skipping a beat.

"Touche. I've never been able to skip on her watch, that girl's a devil."

"More than you know." Rias said with a smirk. "And, hey, don't skip classes. That's bad." She said matter-of-factly, but with a smile and a good-natured undertone.

Issei snorted. "If I had a dollar for every time someone said that, I'd be rich. Way I see it, I'm still at the top of my class, skipping or not."

"Got me there. What's your secret, anyway? You don't seem the type to study."

"It just comes naturally to me," Issei said, shrugging. "No secret to it."

"Must be nice."

"Ha! I thought you of all people would understand how wrong that is." Issei said with a smile, before realizing exactly what he said.

Rias was looking at him oddly, and she had every right to- that had been an odd, and slightly presumptuous, thing to say.

"Ah, sorry. That came out wrong. Anyway, you mentioned that you're not busy?" Issei asked, changing the subject.

Rias sensed a lot of moving parts behind his previous statement, but chose not to pursue it for the time being. She filed away that particular slip-up for later, and kept talking in-stride.

"Mhmm, completely free. Why?"

"Wanna go grab something to eat? I'm starving." Issei offered, rubbing his poor neglected stomach.

Behind him, the feral growls of all Rias' fanboys could be heard rolling across the hallway. In their defense, it did sound an awful lot like he was asking her out.

"Sure, why not?" Rias answered, and Issei mentally did a backflip. "What'd you have in mind?"

* * *

"...A ramen stand?"

The look on Rias' face was one you could only call confusion.

Issei had brought them to a duck-in ramen shop, with a wooden exterior door frame that had the words 'best in Japan!' worn away till only 'bap' remained. A faded grey tarp acted as a door, right next to a long window that couldn't be seen through from the outside.

"Yeah. Why the long face? Never had street food before?" Issei asked, sensing her discomfort.

"Well, not really, no." Rias answered, slightly shaking her head.

"Oh, right. I forget that great Rias Gregory comes from a seat of nobility, too high in the clouds to dain us commoners with their presence. Oh, woe is me~!" Issei began to dramatically act as if he'd been mortally wounded, kneeling on the ground and clutching his chest.

Rias laughed, but at the same time wondered how Issei could do something like that without being embarrassed. They were in the middle of downtown Kuoh, surrounded by strangers who shot him a cacophony of odd glances.

"It's Gremory. I feel like you're messing it up on purpose, now." Rias said, rubbing her chin in mock detective-style.

"That's exactly what I'm doing, Germ-ory. So, you're not too good for a ramen stand, right? I can vouch for the quality." Issei said, getting _slightly_ more serious. Only slightly, though. He stood up off the ground, brushing off his legs.

Rias knew what Issei was doing. She was confident that he had a firm grasp of her personality, so the line about 'being too good for a ramen stand' hit her just right, and she knew he did it on purpose.

"Of course not, let's do it." Rias said, waving off his comment.

"Great. My treat." Issei said, and walked under the tarp-door.

The interior of the ramen stand was little more than a bar and some stools, with barely enough room to move around in. Issei confidently walked in and took the stool nearest the door, while Rias was slower and looked around quite a bit. After taking in the (meager) sights, she sat down next to him.

They had apparently been the only ones in there for a while, because the stand's owner and sole employee was asleep in a chair behind the bar.

"Hey pops, wake up." Issei said, throwing a coaster at the man. He hopped up with urgency.

The owner was an elderly Japanese man, long in his years but as young at heart as any kid could ever be. He was wearing a white cloth around his head tied back like a bandanna, and a black apron over a white jumpsuit. When he saw Issei, he cackled a laugh, and stretched his hand out over the counter. Issei reciprocated the hearty laugh, and bumped his fist against the old man's.

"Thought you were dead, pops." Issei said, smirking.

"Not yet, not yet! Hey you little shit, who's your girlfriend? First time you ever come here not by yourself and you don't even introduce me?" The man said excitedly, talking to Issei like a family member would.

"Well, I didn't have to worry about it when you were snoozing. This is Rias, my _friend _from school." Issei said, waving in her general direction. "Rias, this is Chow, a dirty old man who pretends to run a ramen shop."

Rias smiled and Chow laughed out loud, playfully reaching over the bar and tussling Issei's hair. They seemed far closer than just a shop owner and a regular customer. She noted that there were a few picture frames on the bar, and all of them were of Chow and Issei save for one; a dusty picture of what looked like a young Chow, standing with a foreign woman and giving a thumbs up at their newly purchased ramen shop.

"It's good to meet you, Mister Chow." Rias said, slightly bowing her head.

Chow snorted a laugh. "You too, sweetheart!" Chow got really close to Rias, and narrowed his eyes. "So, what's he paying you?"

"Not nearly enough." Rias said sarcastically, making Chow roar with laughter and Issei crack a grin.

Without another word, Chow began to pull items and ingredients from shelves and cabinets behind and underneath the bar, and Rias realized there wasn't a menu in front of her, or anywhere for that matter.

"Looking for this?" Issei asked, holding up a menu. "This is actually the only menu in the whole place."

"Well, I was. Should I not be?" Rias asked, sensing that it might not be a normal restaurant.

"Nah, Chow's got it."

"Yeah, Chow's got it!" Chow said, looking up from a pot of boiling water and flashing a thumbs up.

"...I see." Rias briefly wondered what kind of place she'd found herself in, that there was only one employee and he didn't even ask what she wanted before he started cooking. This was quite a switch from what she'd normally been exposed to, and she wasn't really sure how to act.

"You've never been anywhere like this, have you?" Issei asked, catching on immediately.

"No, not even almost. It's...interesting." Rias answered, trying to find the right word. The shop was nothing special, even a little run-down, but there was something uniquely picturesque and lovely about the whole thing. It had the perfect homely coffee-shop aesthetic, and seemed like somewhere you could stay for hours without realizing any time had passed at all. She liked the atmosphere quite a lot; it was a far cry from the ritzy places she was accustomed to.

"Glad you like it. Chow's shop is just about my favorite place."

"Damn right! Chow numba one!" Chow said, masterfully flipping an egg in a skillet. Issei and Chow whooped together like they were at a sporting event cheering for their favorite team, and Rias couldn't help but laugh. They were just so...familial. She was almost jealous.

"You're probably wondering who the old guy is, huh? Why we're so close, I mean." Issei said, almost is if reading her thoughts.

"I was. You two are like peas in a pod." Rias said, smiling.

"Issei was a dirty street orphan! Chow took him in!" Chow said, proudly gesturing to one of the pictures on the bar. In it, Chow was making ramen with a ten year old Issei, who looked to be having the time of his life.

"He's right. I left orphanage after orphanage and just coming back to Chow, so eventually CPS or whoever just let me hang around. Now I'm more than old enough for it not to matter, but yeah...we got tight." Issei explained.

**(AN: I don't know if CPS [Child protective services] has a Japanese equivalent or anything even remotely similar, but we're assuming/pretending it does. Roll with it.) **

Rias was silently stunned. Issei was an orphan? She never would've guessed. But, that would explain why he and Chow were so close- they pretty much _were_ family.

"...Wow." Rias said, not really sure what else she could say.

"Three best-in-Japan specialty ramen, ready to go!" Chow said, saving her from having to come up with anything else. He set three black earthenware bowls down on the bar, one in front of each of the two teens, and one on his side of the bar in front of himself.

The miso-ramen itself looked delicious, with a fried egg on one side of the fluffy noodles, and a slab of tender pork half-submerged in the savory golden broth. Seaweed and spices were scattered around the dish, and the bowl itself made the whole thing pop just that much more.

"Wow, that was fast." Rias remarked. He'd only just begun took cook, it seemed like.

"Chow is the best ramen chef in the country. Of course he's fast." Issei said, matter-of-factly.

"Mmm. Well, go ahead." Chow said, agreeing with Issei and nodding his head towards the bowls.

The three of them clapped their hands and bowed their heads. "Thanks for the food," They all said in unison.

Rias, not being a native in Japan, was mostly unfamiliar with the ins and outs of their odd pre-meal ritual, but she knew the basics- enough to act like she knew what she was doing.

...That is to say, she'd only ever seen it in anime before moving to Japan.

Issei and Chow both dug in, but Rias was hesitant- the two of them ate like madmen, slurping and smacking and burping and making all manner of undignified noises, not unlike how starved cavemen might've acted ten thousand years ago.

The poor girl was conflicted. Every proper bone in her body, which is to say _all _of them, screamed at her to use restraint and decent manners, but they both seemed to be going at it, and something about the sight made her just a little jealous.

See, in her high-and-mighty household, she'd have been heavily reprimanded if she'd ever been seen eating like that, and she'd always had a bit of a secret desire to just pig out over a meal without a care in the world. Issei and Chow were doing just that, and she wanted to jump in and join them, but at the same time she still felt her family's morals creeping down her neck.

Inwardly, Rias scoffed. She realized just how stupid she was being. What influence did her family have on her here, in a dinky ramen shop in downtown Kuoh?

She slowly began to tear into the ramen herself, drawing a mildly surprised but also just a little prideful expression from Issei. He was a bit spooked to see someone so proper devouring something like that, but also proud she'd cast off her family's conditioning. He didn't have the first clue about her home life, but he suspected that she'd be punished if she'd ever ate like that amongst family.

Plus, the tarot card she'd drawn earlier in the day- the Hierophant reversed- spoke about the rejection of family values and the casting off of rules. He began to see that in her, now.

"_You got a crush on her or something? You're lookin' at her weird." _Chow said, in accented English.

"_Nah, just thinkin' about how she prolly doesn't get to eat like this often. Strict family. Arranged-marriage strict, even." _Issei replied in similarly accented English, Rias looking between the both of them with an odd expression.

See, they thought they were being sly and talking around her. They might've been, if Rias didn't speak English too.

"_Bah!" _Chow spat, disdain written on his face. "_Must be tough. Glad she's enjoying it." _

"_A'course." _

Rias could've spoken up in English and ruined their 'secret' chat, but chose not to. They hadn't said anything bad, after all, but she did feel odd.

Nobody had ever _pitied_ her for being part of the Gremory family before.

And slowly, she realized something.

Issei and Chow weren't even related, but they were more family to each other than her _actual _parents had been to her for a long time.

Rias loved her mother and father, sure, and they absolutely loved her- but their desire to micro-manage her life, culminating in this awful arranged marriage, had driven a wedge between them and they certainly weren't exceedingly close nowadays.

She felt a pang of jealousy for the kinship Issei and Chow shared, but didn't react to them otherwise. She just pretended not to speak English, and blankly looked between them.

"Sorry, sorry." Issei started, back in Japanese now. "Chow is actually who taught me English."

"Mm. I learned it while I lived in the States." Chow explained, smiling.

"You lived in America?" Rias asked, intrigued. She'd never been to America, but she'd heard it was the closest to where she was from, culture wise.

"Sure did! Met my wife there." Chow said, a proud smile on his face.

"Is she the one in that picture?" Rias asked, beginning to put the pieces together.

"Mhmm. My better half for fifty years." Chow said, the first calm words he'd spoken so far. He sighed happily, and Rias caught a glimpse of longing in his eyes.

"So Rias, how's your first time at a lowly ramen shop? You look like you like it." Issei remarked, subtly changing the subject. He didn't want Rias to ask what happened to Chow's wife, not because it would bother him, but because she'd probably get uncomfortable with the answer.

"It's fantastic. You're very talented, mister Chow." Rias said, smiling. She really meant it- she hadn't eaten ramen very many times, but she could tell his was top-notch. Maybe even the best in Japan, truly.

"Damn right! And don't say mister, it makes me feel old." Chow said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Wouldn't want that, would we?" Issei said with a sarcastic smirk, and he and Chow shared a big laugh while Rias giggled.

"Oh, right! Almost forgot!" Chow said, standing up from his position at the bar. He dug around in a bag under the bar, and after a second he pulled up with an ornate bottle of sake and three cups. "Got some of the good stuff!" He said, handing the bottle to Issei.

Issei read the label, then whistled in appreciation. It _was_ some good stuff. Chow's shop was by no means mainstream, but every so once in a while, a businessman would stop in and have ramen and company that was so good, he'd send Chow a gift as thanks. This time, it was a fancy bottle of sake.

Issei handed the bottle back to Chow, who began to pour it in the small sake cups. "Do you drink?" Issei asked Rias, who nodded.

"Normally with meals, but a couple of times recreationally. My family has a high alcohol tolerance." Rias explained, shedding some light on why a proper teenage girl was okay with drinking sake from a sleazy guy in a ramen shop.

"Cool. This stuff is low percentage, so a cup with the ramen won't get anybody drunk. You cool with that?" Issei asked.

Inwardly Rias smirked. The thought of liquor getting her drunk was laughable. "Sure," she said.

Needing no further instruction, Chow placed the now-filled glasses in front of the two teens, a ball of ice in each.

They all begin to sip sake as they ate and talked, and to Rias, it felt less like a meal and more like a social affair.

She was greatly enjoying herself, and for a moment, Rias was just a normal girl out for lunch with a friend. She wasn't Rias Gremory, next in line to the Gremory Throne. She wasn't Rias Gremory, fiance to Riser Phenex. She wasn't a King, or an heir, or even a Devil.

She was just...Rias. Issei's friend from school.

And she liked it.

Then Rias' phone buzzed, and her wonderful fantasy came crashing down. It was Akeno, asking for Rias to quickly come to their club room at Kuoh. She sighed in disappointment, or more like...annoyance.

"Gotta go?" Issei asked, anticipating that she'd have to leave at some point. For her type of person, 'free for a whole afternoon' meant 'nothing to do at this very moment, but subject to change.'

Rias smiled, but there was a slight sadness to it. "Yes, I do. Urgent club business, Akeno says. Thank you very much for the meal, mist-...Chow, it was wonderful." She began to reach for money out of her pocket, only to be stopped by both Issei and Chow.

"On the house," Chow said with a wide smile.

"My treat, remember? Don't sweat it, I'll find some way to mooch off you." Issei said, smiling.

Rias smiled back, standing up from the stool. "Thank you both. See you tomorrow, Issei." She said, waving at he and Chow as she exited the shop.

They both waited a second until they were sure she was out of earshot, then Chow yanked Issei over the side of the counter.

"How the hell did you get a girl like _that_ to hang out with you?!" Chow yelled with a grin, giving the boy a noogie.

Issei laughed, not really sure himself.

* * *

**Yeah, so. Couple of things:**

**1) Is underage drinking allowed in Japan? (underage there being 20) Nobody gives a shit. Literally, you can drink at pretty much whatever age (reasonably) and nobody really cares. You can even buy beer and shit from street-side vending machines without an ID. I don't personally think this is a big deal, but I know one of you is gonna hop in my reviews and say 'UNDERAGE DRINKININKING?!' so I put this here as a disclaimer. **

**2) Since when is Rias not close with her parents? Okay, big one here- we're taking this into a bit of an AU. In this AU, Rias is an **_actual character with realistic emotions._** Think about your parents forcing you to marry a sleazy dickbag, despite your vehement wishes to the alternative. She's a little (understandably) dejected, to say the least. **

**3) What is the Hierophant? The Hierophant is one of the Major Arcana in the tarot deck, and when drawn, it means embracing traditional values and the old ways. The Hierophant _reversed, _however, means the _rejection_ of those same values. Turning your back on your family values and old rules, and either embracing the new or making your own path. You can see why I'm chosen that to characterize Rias, I hope. **

**4) What in the world are you doing with Rias' character? So the thing about DxD- it's badly written. The writer (name slips my mind) creates these characters with backstories that would make them _incredibly_ complex in a real-world setting, Rias being a prime example. I'm aiming to bring her character some justice, outside of just being Issei's favorite pair of nipples. **

**5) Issei is literally just The Drifter. **

**You're goddamn right. Transmat firing!**

**If you don't get that, ignore it. It's a Destiny thing. Real ones know.**

**6) Where's my next chapter of [insert story title?!] Don't say that. Just don't. You might think you're showing support (which I always appreciate!) but you just sound entitled. Kinda makes me not want to write _your_ next chapter, you feel me?**

**7) Cat Scratch Fever when? I'm waiting on a book about Dragon science I ordered to come in. Should be resuming updates soon.**

**Anyway, you all know the song and dance. Review, PM, all that nonsense. **

**See you next mission!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm baaaack...for now. It's been a little bit, huh? Like, at least a day. I started writing this a few days ago to get back in the swing of things after a giant loss of free time (blame Shadowkeep/Destiny 2) and I think it turned out pretty well. Obviously, tell me what you guys think and give me some suggestions. You would not believe how much having suggestions as reference helps when I write, I find myself opening my reviews page like a million times just to look at all of your ideas. It's great. Anyway, I can't remember if I had anything to say or not, so I'm just gonna leave it here for now. Read and review. **

* * *

"Alright sister, I'll level with you. I got no idea what you're saying."

Issei was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and looking down at a blonde girl dressed in a nun's clothes. She'd approached him on the street and asked him something in a foreign language that sounded like it could be related to English, but he couldn't understand a word.

The poor girl looked lost, and Issei wanted to help, but the language barrier was just too steep. She was speaking in a latin-based language, but for the life of him he couldn't understand her- he guessed it was Italian, but really had no solid idea.

The blonde rattled off some more words, slower this time, and Issei caught a fragment.

"Mi chiamo _Asia_." The girl spoke slowly and deliberately, heavily gesturing to herself when she said Asia.

"That your name?" Issei asked, not too dense to pick up on body language. He pointed at her, confirming her words. "Asia?"

"Si, si!" Asia replied, excitedly nodding. She'd been trying for a while now to talk to a stranger, but no one seemed to speak anything but Japanese. This boy in particular spoke English however, and while that was still yet a far cry from what she understood, it was closer to Italian than Japanese by quite a bit. So, she tried a lot harder to communicate with him than she normally would've.

"Are you looking for a church?" Issei asked, trying to piece together why an Italian in a nun's robe would be in Kuoh. The only Christian church they had was long abandoned, a place for children to hang out near and dare their friends to go inside. No one ever did really enter, and it was almost an urban legend among Kuoh's youth- some kids even said they could hear voices coming from inside, or claimed to have seen beings in cult robes coming and going.

None of that really mattered at present of course, but it was the only place he could think off that Asia might be going.

As Issei spoke, he made hand signs to go along with his words- when he said 'you' he pointed to her chest. When he said looking, he made a gesture like he was peering off into the distance with his flattened hand over his eyebrows. Finally, he clasped his hands together as if in prayer when he said church, hoping she'd get the message.

Luckily for both of them, she did.

Asia nodded once more, having heard the cross-cultural question loud and clear.

Issei furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, trying to think of something. He couldn't send her to the abandoned church, could he? But then, where else could he send her? He couldn't think of anyone in Kuoh who spoke Italian of all things, and he didn't want to just _leave_ her. Finally, he came to a conclusion.

If she could _see_ the church, she'd never want to just go inside, and then he could find some way to tell her that's the _only one_. A perfect plan. Issei nodded, admiring his strategic skills.

"Alright, follow me." Issei made a hand motion for her to follow him, which she did without wasting any time. As he turned to start heading towards the church, she walked right beside him.

"I'm Issei, by the way. Uh..._mi chiamo Issei_." Issei mimicked what she'd said earlier, hoping he was correct in assuming it meant "my name is Issei". He was, and Asia smiled in greeting.

Now, Asia looked as happy and carefree as a puppy, but Issei was floundering. His main skill was in communication, and not being able to communicate properly was seriously hindering his ability to help.

Then, with a sudden realization, he facepalmed hard enough to make Asia flinch. The poor girl looked at him worriedly, but Issei just waved off her concern as he pulled out his smartphone.

He sent a text to Rias, first. More out of curiosity than anything, as he never expected a positive reply.

[You wouldn't happen to speak italian, would you]

Then, he opened up the main reason he'd gotten his phone out- a translation app. Before he could even put anything in though, Rias texted him back.

[I do, actually. Why?]

Issei smirked. Of _course_ she did. Which meant she _probably_ understand what he and Chow were saying in English several days ago. '_Sly girl.'_

He closed the translation app, instead choosing to put all his chips on Rias.

[You busy? I could use a hand]

[No, I'm free. What's up]

[Found a super lost italian in a nun's uniform, but I can't talk to her bc she only speaks italian- shocker, i know. call me?]

Within moments, Issei's default ringtone went off, Rias on the other end. He answered without hesitation.

"Hey red, how's it going?" Issei asked, slowing his pace as he and Asia walked. The nun looked at him in question, wondering who he was talking to.

["Not bad, so far. So, are you still with the 'italian nun'? I can talk to her, if you put her on."] Rias said with an audible smirk, mildly disbelieving that he'd managed to find an actual nun in the middle of Kuoh town and instead convinced that he'd stumbled on a cosplayer in-character.

"Sure, here goes." Issei pulled the phone away and extended it towards Asia, who looked at him with confusion. She took it from his hands, but just held it in front of her instead of actually putting it up to her ear. Inwardly sighing, he gestured for her to listen into it. Thankfully, she followed the instruction.

"Si? Mi chiamo Asia," Asia repeated, not at all expecting to be answered in her naitive tongue on a phone handed to her by a Japanese teenager speaking English.

Nevertheless, Asia's face lit up as Rias answered in flawless Italian, shattering the language barrier and relieving the girl's worries. She began to rattle off more words than Issei could even count, and he briefly wondered just where in the world Rias had come from. Was it a small wonder that she spoke Italian and had red hair? For sure. Did he care enough to ask? Not really.

After a moment of back and forth conversation, Asia handed the phone back to Issei.

"So what's the play?" He asked Rias, thanking Asia.

["I'm not far from you guys, so I'm going to head over and help out. The church she wants to go to is currently closed down, so I'll need to help her find accomodations."]

"Uh, what? How is that a you problem? Shouldn't we talk to like, a police officer or something?"

["Hm? What do you mean?"]

"You're just a student. Not to sound like a dickhead, but what business of yours is it to find lodging for a nun?"

Issei sensed that he may be being a tad bit pushy, and that was most certainly a loaded question- but Rias seemed to be doing something far out of the ordinary, and he'd felt something was off about her for a while now. He wanted a clue.

Rias, on the other hand, cursed under her breath. She'd momentarily forgotten how perceptive Issei was, and let slip that she was a tad bit more than 'just a student'. She was absolutely sure he'd noticed, so her next move was vital.

["Well the way I see it, I'm probably one of the only people in town who speaks Italian, so I thought I would be a good place to start. Unless you'd like to use Google Translate?"] She spoke with an added accusatory yet humorous edge to her voice, trying to guilt-trip Issei into backing off.

"Alright, alright." Isse chuckled. "My bad. She told you where we are, huh?" Issei decided to bite for now, but he still had a lingering suspicion that something was odd about Rias.

["She did, yes. Look up."]

At her odd statement, Issei looked around. It wasn't hard to find Rias, what with her having a _completely_ different hair color than everyone in town. She stood out like a sore thumb. As their eyes met, Rias waved and the phone call dropped. She was across the street from the pair, waiting for the crosswalk to signal for her to move.

"Rias?" Asia asked, pointing at her in a way that would probably seem rude to most people.

"Si." Issei replied, nodding down at her.

With a devious smirk, Issei pulled up Google translate again. A hilarious idea had crossed his mind, and with haste unparalleled, he typed into the phone.

"Chiamala signorina rossa, Asia." Issei said, pointing at Rias and hoping he didn't mess up the pronunciation _too _bad.

**(AN: This was literally me using Google Translate. If any Italians are out there, I apologize for nothing.)**

Asia giggled. He'd messed up the pronunciation very badly, but she understood the basis. He wanted her to call Rias 'miss red', a joke about her crimson hair. The two shared a smile while Rias finally crossed the street.

"About time." Issei commented sarcastically, despite the fact that Rias had made it there in record time.

"Ciao, suora." Rias spoke directly to Asia, ignoring Issei for the time being.

Within mere moments, Asia was speaking faster than the poor boy could follow, Rias easily following suit. Asia almost seemed to talk more with her hands than her mouth, and frankly, he didn't know how Rias could keep up. Once again, he briefly wondered if she may be a naitive Italian, but quickly quashed the thought when he remembered her red hair and pale complexion. He wasn't entirely sure, but he felt pretty confident that those generally weren't traits of the average Italian.

"Coming, Issei?" While lingering in his thoughts, Rias and Asia had already begun to walk off without him. Coming back to reality, he quickly followed.

They walked for about fifteen minutes before passing by a park, which wouldn't have been significant in the slightest if it weren't for the little boy sobbing by the entrance. There was blood on his knee, a ruined ice-cream cone splattered nearby, and his mother was trying to console the poor boy to no avail.

Without a moment's hesitation, Asia rushed to the side of the crying boy and clasped her hands over him in prayer.

"Is she praying?" Issei looked puzzled. He supposed it might be a normal thing for a nun to do, but it seemed awkward.

"Looks that way, huh?" Rias replied, a bit confused herself.

"_Big boys shouldn't cry," _Asia spoke gently in Italian, and while the little boy couldn't understand the strange nun, he was calmed by her words. "_Don't worry, I'll help you." _

Asia put her hands to the boy's skinned knee and began to pray. A soft green light shone from two beautiful rings on her middle fingers, and boy's wound began to close.

Issei looked dumbfounded, and Rias' eyes widened.

"Is she- is she healing him?" Issei asked quietly, not believing his eyes. Rias, though she vaguely knew what was happening, realized Issei absolutely did not. She put her hand just centimeters away from the back of his head, an invisible spell flaring to life in her palm. She meant to wipe the past few seconds from his memory, to stop him from wondering about Asia's seemingly supernatural healing ability, but something odd happened- for the first time in her life, Rias' spell utterly failed.

A bewildered look crossed the redhead's face for a fraction of a second. She'd never, _ever_ had a spell do that before. It wasn't even like a barrier or something, it was just as if the spell itself had simply ceased to exist.

Issei turned back around to face Rias, who straightened up and fixed her expression. She resolved to find out what had happened later, instead choosing to focus on keeping Issei from asking too many questions. Without the help of magic, she doubted her ability to keep the truth from him for long, if he chose to dig for it. Issei was just too keen.

"Did you see that?" He asked, eyes wide.

"Hmm? See what? Asia?" Rias asked, playing dumb in a very effective way. She pretended to have been looking another direction.

Issei turned back around. Asia was helping the boy off the ground, and his mother thanked her and rushed away with him in tow.

Issei faced Rias once more. "You really missed that?"

"Missed what? She wiped the blood off his knee. Are you feeling okay?" Rias put her hand to Issei's forehead, feeling for fever in a joking way. Unbeknownst to him, she was trying to use a mind-affecting spell again. This time the spell went off correctly, but something felt odd. She could tell it had worked, though, and so she chalked it up to some personal mistake.

Issei exhaled through his nose and exasperatedly pushed her hand away, but he supposed she was probably right. After all, it wasn't possible to just _heal_ someone, was it?

"...Right. Guess I wasn't looking close enough." Issei lightly shook his head then rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling like a cloud had come over his mind.

"Sei pronta?" Rias asked Asia as she walked back to the pair. The nun nodded happily, pleased to have helped someone.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Issei asked, massaging his temples and trying to work the odd feeling out of his head. It was not unlike the sensation one might get after staying up far too late- an odd sense of fogginess pervaded his thoughts, and he found it difficult to focus.

When Issei was leading Asia, they had been headed towards the church. Now that Rias was 'in charge' Issei noticed they were heading another direction entirely.

"Asia hasn't eaten anything in a while, so we're going to go to a restaurant and talk over lunch. You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Uh...no." The weird feeling in his head began to lift, allowing him to focus a bit more. "Uh, yeah, no. Not yet. I was actually heading to Chow's, when I bumped into her." Issei slowly blinked then opened his eyes wide and rubbed them with his fingers, like he was trying to clear the crust off his face after waking up from a long sleep.

"Great. I know just the place."

* * *

"I, uh...I can't go in there."

"What?"

The three of them were in the ritzier part of Kuoh, at a restaurant Rias and her family frequented. It was far and away one of the most expensive in town, and even the mere sight of it made Issei sweat. It was simply called 'Castle,' and he knew it well.

"I can't go in there. No worries, I'll just head over to Chow's-"

"Why in the world can't you go in? Don't worry about the price, I'll handle-"

"It ain't the price, sister." Issei cut her off. He pursed his lips, trying to find a good way to tell her why he couldn't enter. "I, uh...have a history with this place."

There wasn't really a good way to say he'd been banned for stealing, was there?

Suddenly, Issei's glaring contrast to Rias came crashing down on him like a waterfall. He was just a poor boy from the streets, and she was practically nobility. He didn't really think about it much, but they were on two completely opposite ends of the spectrum, and this was a stark reminder.

"...You have a history...with this restaurant." Rias asked, disbelieving. Asia looked back and forth between them, not really understanding what was going on. The nun was a little nervous herself, having only eaten at a restaurant very few times in her life.

"Yeah." Issei's light mood visibly darkened.

Rias didn't really even know where to begin. She didn't get the chance- Issei, putting on a chipper face, began talking again before she could reply, dismissing her entirely.

"Look, I can see you got questions, and I'll answer them- but for now, let me just say I can't go in there. For real. Why don't you guys go on without me? I'm pretty much deadweight now anyway, I can't understand a word of what she has to say." Issei waved his hands for emphasis, truly serious in every sense of the word.

"...Are you sure? We can go somewhere else, it's not a huge deal-"

"Nah, hey. She deserves a good meal, since she came all this way for nothing." Issei cut her off again, waving away her concern. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, cool? Let me know if you need anything."

Without another word, Issei began to retreat.

"Uh, yeah...see you tomorrow." Rias was a little dumbfounded. She'd wanted to bring Asia somewhere to talk, sure, but in reality her main goal had been nothing of the sort. Really, what she'd been after was to thank Issei for taking her to Chow's ramen shop a few days prior, since they hadn't charged her or anything. Rias spared no expense when it came to her friends, and she wanted to pay Issei back by giving him a great meal at a fantastic restaurant. She'd had no idea it would have such an effect on him, and it made her feel a bit guilty.

"Aspetta un momento, Signor Issei!"

**(AN: Once again, if this Italian is bad- deal with it. Blame Google Translate.)**

Issei turned around to see Asia running up to him with urgency in her eyes.

"You need somethin'?" He asked, wondering why she'd chase after him.

"Ah...grazie mille, Signor Issei!" Asia bowed in thanks, trying and failing to mimic the Japanese custom. The heart was there, though, and Issei appreciated it. He gave her a thumbs up and winked, then continued on his path towards Chow's.

* * *

"Mmm...Castle, huh? Bad as it may seem, you made the right move."

"Yeah, I think so too. They'd have called the cops if I tried to go in there."

Issei sat at Chow's bar, idly playing with some disposable chopsticks while Chow washed dishes at a small sink in the back of the room. Nobody else was around, and a little old TV hummed away with some sitcom in the corner.

"Still, I think you should apologize to that girl when you see her again. She was probably just trying to thank you, twerp."

"Yeah...you're right. I dunno what came over me, it was weird. I just felt...out of place."

"Well, you've never done anything _legal_ in that part of town until recently, so it would make sense to be uncomfortable." Finishing up the last dish, Chow sat down across from Issei at the bar. "I dunno kid, seems to me like turning her offer down would be the right thing to do, but she may be more than a little hurt. After all, it was kind of random of you to just leave like that. You've probably got her feeling just a bit stifled."

"I'll apologize at school tomorrow, no worries."

* * *

A soft breeze gently rustled the trees, shaking a cascade of leaves down to Issei. They all missed except one, which landed right on the tip of his nose.

Issei, being half-asleep, paid it no mind until the leaf began to tickle him. It left his face, then lightly brushed his nose and eyebrows until he was forcibly grinning. He opened his eyes.

Rias looked down at him, smirking. "Cozy?"

Issei laughed. With the way her red hair fell down towards him, it really highlighted how pretty her eyes were. "I was."

"Napping during class. Honestly, I should call Sona."

Issei was lying down in Rias' garden, yet again. This time however, the two were quite a bit closer than when first they'd met.

"You got me. I was totally about to nap, this time." Issei lazily sighed, closing his eyes again. He yawned, then spoke again. "So, what happened with Asia?"

"She'll be staying here for a while. Transfer student program." Rias answered, trying to resist the urge to mirror his yawn. It seemed Issei's serenity could be a bit contagious.

"Really? That's pretty cool."

"Mhmm."

There was silence for a moment, as Rias went around the garden and tended to some of the plants that needed it. There was a full water pail and leaf clippers already there, making the work easy.

"Hey, so...about yesterday." Issei started, not opening his eyes. He heard the trickle of water onto flowers stop as Rias began listening.

"What about yesterday?" She asked, eager to hear what he had to say.

"Sorry for bailing on you like that. Fancy places make me nervous, Castle in particular."

"It's alright. I should've thought about that before I drug you all the way out there."

"Nah, you're good. But, I guess you wanna hear why I can't go into Castle, right?"

"I will admit, I'm interested. You don't have to say if you don't want to, of course."

"Sure, sure. Anyway, here's the long and short of it. Remember how I was a dirty street orphan, as Chow put it?"

"I seem to recall something like that, yes."

"Well, at the height of my dirty-street-orphan career, I turned to thievery to try and feed myself, on account of...you know, starving. Castle in particular was one of my main targets. Didn't take me long to get caught, of course, and the owner was anything _but _sympathetic. That rat bastard handed me off to the police and banned me from his stupid resturant, end of story. This was a couple of years ago, so maybe he's cooled off since then, but I'm still not allowed to set foot in that place. That about sums it up. Hope you don't think less of me, but I figured I owed it to you to set the record straight."

Rias was silent. Issei had been...starving? Less than even a few years ago, he'd become a thief to save himself from dying on the streets? In her mind, the act of him being weird about going into the restaurant meant nothing, now that she knew why he'd been so adamant about it.

"I had no idea." Rias said, feeling more than a bit guilty.

"Really? What part of 'dirty street orphan' didn't register with you?" Issei asked sarcastically, cracking an eye and looking up at Rias. His attitude changed when he saw her expression. She was as crestfallen as a person could be.

"Hey, whoa, why the long face?" He asked, offput by her amount of concern. She was looking at him from the other side of the garden with a heartbroken look on her face.

"That's awful, Issei. I'm so sorry you had to go through something like that." Rias spoke genuinely, with more care in her voice than he'd heard from just about anyone.

"Ah...I get it. You're the idealist type, aren't you? You hate to see suffering of any kind, anywhere." Issei asked quietly, not really intending for her to hear him. She did anyway.

Nobody had ever said something like that to her before, so she didn't really have a response ready. Regardless, she answered from the heart. "I do. It makes me feel...useless, to know people are going through so much and I haven't done a thing to help them."

"Haven't you, though?" Issei asked abruptly, interrupting her. Rias tilted her head, not quite understanding.

"Well, I may not have known you for a long time, but let's take stock. In the brief time we've been friends, you've helped me and Asia. For just under a week, two's a pretty good count. You don't seem the type to turn a blind eye even if you've got the perfect chance, is what I'm saying. Don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over, red." Issei closed his eyes again, letting the gentle breeze soothe him once more into carelessness.

Rias, on the other hand, was having a bit of a crisis. Nobody, not one person, had _ever_ said something like that to her. She'd been called nice before, but never had she gotten such genuine praise from even somebody close to her, much less from someone she barely knew. She felt something weird- something she wasn't familiar with. Her face turned a little red, and her throat tightened up a bit.

"I-I see." Rias' normally confident voice cracked, making Issei look up at her once more. She wasn't facing him, making him wonder if he'd said something weird.

Interrupting their conversation was the school's bell, signaling the switch from one class to the next. Rias snapped back to reality, and Issei groaned.

"Alright, you've had your moment of tranquility. Back to class." Rias good-naturedly shooed him away as he stood up, making the boy chuckle.

"Fine, fine. See you later, Rias."

With a moment Rias was by herself in the garden, looking off towards where Issei had left to. Something felt off, but she couldn't tell what it was. Her heart was going a mile a minute, and she had no idea why. Then, it dawned on her. How in the world had she helped Issei?

Absorbed as she was, she never heard the window of the Old School Building above her open up.

"_Don't beat yourself up over something you had no control over, red." _

Rias gained an atomic blush as she looked up to see Akeno sticking her head out of the window and mimicking Issei.

"Akeno!"

* * *

**This was a fun one, huh? Got Asia out of the way in a method totally different from Canon, sowed the seeds of a certain someone's crush, and set the playing field for some pretty neat ideas. I'm excited to write this one, believe it or not. I've got a handful of things to say, so I'm just gonna do it in rapid fire bullet-point format. **

**-I started a donation page called a Ko-fi. See profile for details.**

**-I'm considering expanding outside DxD. I have a half-finished draft for a Rosario Vampire chapter, and I'm kicking ideas around for a Darling in the Franxx story. Leave suggestions if you've got them.**

**-My PMs have been bugging out lately. If you've sent me a PM that I haven't replied to, just send another to remind me. **

**-I may or may not reply to reviews. If they're something like 'good work can't wait for more' I probably won't. **

**-I need suggestions for this Fic. Give me any ideas you've got, no matter what.**

**-Always let me know if you find something wrong in my fics (grammar or formatting wise) so I can quickly fix any errors. **

**That's all I feel like writing right now, so I'll cut it off here. Don't forget to review. **

**See you next mission!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, Belial here! Bet you thought this story wouldn't get an update, huh?  
**

**WRONG!**

**Yeah, I know it's been a while since I updated anything that wasn't His Angel, and I'm sorry- College has just been too much for me to consistently write this past semester, but with the Covid-19 outbreak I've gotten significantly more time. (They doubled our spring break and switched the remainder of the semester to online classes, so I should be able to write a lot more from here on out.)**

**Yeah, so this isn't a super long chapter but I think it's a pretty good one. Make sure to leave your thoughts in a review, and join the discord! (More on that at the bottom.)**

**Anyway, I'll leave you alone now. Enjoy the story, and as always, PLEASE give me any suggestions or ideas you have. Good scene ideas are what inspire me to write, so even if you think you're ideas are mediocre, tell me.**

* * *

Issei, hands in pockets, walked down a street in Kuoh. It was just a little drizzly, but not so much that he needed an umbrella- just enough to give the day a muggy kind of feeling. He had some headphones in, playing music from a far outdated iPod shuffle while he walked.

All in all, it was his favorite kind of day.

He was already in a bit of a good mood. Chow had hooked him up with some stellar lunch, like always, and had given him some spending money; essentially an allowance. It used to make Issei feel a bit uncomfortable, taking money from Chow- until the old geezer revealed he was pretty well off; not quite rich, but _definitely _not hurting for cash. The old man wanted his ward to focus on his studies instead of getting a job, so he covered Issei's expenses for pretty much everything- not that the boy was a frivolous spender to begin with.

That said, having been a street urchin for some time, it always made Issei feel larger-than-life when he had money in his pockets.

He was walking through a downtown area, with no real destination in mind- until he spotted something familiar.

A full head of red hair, sticking out of the crowd like a sore thumb.

A grin quickly plastered itself on his face.

Now, Rias and Issei had been friends for a couple weeks by this point. They'd only hung out outside of school a single time since the incident with Asia, but nevertheless they continued to hit it off every time they spoke, and each learned something about the other every single time they met.

Issei, as attentive as he was, had picked up on something she worked _very _hard to conceal.

She was _easy_ to mess with.

Whether it was because of her upbringing or because she had superstar status, she was one of the single most fun people to pick on, in good fun of course. Occasionally, she would give as good as she got, and her witty banter was second to none- but when it came to pranks and jokes, she was as fresh as a spring chicken.

Issei couldn't have been more excited as he stalked her from afar, affirming that she hadn't seen him yet. Once he knew she hadn't, he slowly closed the gap between them, working his way through the people silently like only he knew how. She was standing still in a crowd flowing around her, watching something on the streetside. From his distance, it looked like the entrance to an arcade- flashing rainbow lights framed a door with an equally flashy sign hanging above it.

As he approached, Rias glanced around, and he carefully ducked behind someone next to him to avoid detection. Because of his upbringing (or rather, the lack thereof) he was beyond skilled at hiding in a crowd, and not even the person he hid behind noticed him, much less Rias.

The girl, having completed her cursory glance, took a hesitant step towards the arcade. She looked around once more, then took another step, and another. As she drew just a meter from the door, Issei struck.

"Hi!"

Rias nearly jumped out of her skin as she instantly turned around to face Issei, who retreated back a couple steps and laughed. She sighed and held her head in exasperation, both relieved and disappointed that out of everyone, he was the one who'd seen her.

"Whatcha doin? You going to the arcade?"

Issei peered past her into the door. It looked near-empty inside; a perfect time to visit.

"Is that what it is? I was wondering." Rias admitted, looking inside once more.

"What? You were wondering? You don't know what an arcade is?"

"I know what an arcade is," Rias said indignantly, "I just didn't know what that's what one really looked like." She seemed intrigued by the arcade, but turned once more to Issei, pushing it to the back of her mind. "But nevermind that. What are you up to?"

"No no, don't 'nevermind that' me. Did you just say 'I don't know what an arcade is'?"

"No. I said the opposite of that."

"Sounded like it to me. Let's go inside."

"What? I can't go in there, I-"

"You what? Mom and Pop gonna find out?"

Rias glared daggers at him.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was true. She'd never in her life been to an arcade, or a theme park, or a roller rink, or anything of that sort- her parents wouldn't let her. 'It isn't something a princess should do', they'd say.

"Well? I'm waiting." Issei egged her on, by this point in their friendship knowing full well why she'd never been to an arcade. "Come on, this one has a great Dance Dance Revolution setup, and I'm friends with the owner. It'll be fun."

"Hm…" Rias knew she should say 'I'm really busy, sorry' or something to that effect, but she just couldn't bring herself to. Truth be told, she _wanted _to go inside, very badly.

"Say it, say it, say it. 'Sure Issei, I'll go in!' That's all it would take."

"Fine. I'll come in for a minute, just to see what it's like."

"Atta girl! Come on, they've got a killer claw machine."

* * *

There are a lot of things Koneko expects to see on one of her arcade days. Prizes and food, obviously. The owner of the arcade, duh. Couples, high-score fanatics, families with kids, all frequent. Even then, she's seen some pretty weird things- there's not a whole lot that would surprise her.

But if there's one thing that would-

It would be Rias, with a human, on one half of the duet dancing machines, performing her absolute _heart_ out to the song Butterfly.

Having just entered the arcade and come face to face with exactly that, Koneko decided maybe she'd eaten too much candy and immediately headed for the door.

* * *

"Hey, I think we got the high score!"

Issei, sweat dripping off his brow, pointed to the screen in front of he and Rias. Sure enough, RED/ISE was now at the top of the list, just above HED/ASS and URR/DUM.

Rias, looking a little frazzled but not quite as exerted as Issei, pumped her fist in the air with a bit of dramatic flair.

When they'd come in, Issei had started taking her around all of the different games and machines, and the first thing to catch her eye had obviously been the flashiest thing in the place- DanceRush Stardom, a two-player hyper-physical dancing simulator. She'd been apprehensive at first of course, but after watching Issei try it out she was hooked. They'd proceeded to spend about an hour on the same machine, until they'd just got the high score.

Both of them were remarkably fast learners, and while Issei was lighter on his feet, Rias had reflexes that blew his mind. The end result was that her dancing was quite a bit faster and more precise than his, but he had a stylish and smooth flair to it.

"So what's next?" Rias asked, eagerness in her voice. She couldn't hide the excitement in her eyes, and any thoughts about being reserved had been blown away.

"Uh…" Issei looked around, wiping the bead of sweat off his head while his eyes searched for something else to keep the princess entertained.

He figured it wouldn't take much.

"How about air hockey?"

* * *

Koneko stood in the doorway of the arcade once more, and beside her-

"Oh, wow. You weren't kidding. She's totally hooked on him, huh?"

Akeno Himejima.

"Told you. You owe me candy."

"Haha, guess I do. One second."

Akeno held up her smartphone, and snapped a quick picture of Rias absolutely destroying Issei Hyoudou at air hockey. She lowered her phone, and pity quickly took the place of her smile.

"I guess I'm gonna have to talk to her about this, huh? If she falls for some random human, it'll seriously cause problems..."

"Or the friend chicken will just kill him."

Akeno sighed in concern. Koneko was right. They wanted nothing more than Rias to be with someone she _loved_ rather than had chosen for her, but...a human wasn't the right choice.

"I know. And I think she knows that too."

The two of them watched her in silence for a moment. She looked so...happy. Almost more happy than they'd ever seen her, and certainly more happy than they'd seen her in a long time.

"What do we do?" Koneko asked, looking up at her senior.

Akeno cast one more glance at the two. Issei just lost his second round in a row, but they were both laughing.

"Let's go. She's having a good time." Akeno ushered the rook outside, choosing as the Queen not to disturb their master.

* * *

"Give up yet?"

Rias held out her air-hockey striker in challenge, waiting for him to match her.

"Okay, okay. You win. I concede."

Instead, he held his hands up in surrender. She was merciless, and way faster than him.

The score was 4-1, in Rias' favor. That's not an individual game's score, mind you- that was total wins/losses.

Issei was pretty convinced she'd let him win that one, too.

"So, you've beaten me at my own game. Anything else you wanna humiliate me in while we're at it?"

Rias hummed, thinking it over. "Effortlessly beating you again does sound nice, but I'm kind of curious about that."

She pointed towards something Issei's brain tended to actively block out when he was at the arcade- the photo booth.

"That's not a game. It's a photo booth."

"A photo booth?"

"A relic of the forgotten past, really." Issei put on a dramatic tone as Rias walked in a circle around the booth. It had curtains on either side so light couldn't get in, and was just _barely_ enough for two people to fit in- if they were close.

"Let's try it."

"Really? It just takes cheesy low-res pictures-"

"Let's try it!"

Eagerness in her voice, Rias impatiently grabbed Issei's shirt as she herself flew into the booth. They both fell onto the one seat inside, and ended up with her in the far-right of the booth with her back to the corner, and him nearly on top of her with his back towards the left entrance.

"Smooth moves, red." Issei had a light blush as he positioned himself in a more modest way, not trying to do anything to her she'd think is weird.

Rias laughed, glad she'd been on the giving end of the nonsense for once. She'd given up on any pretense of acting high-and-mighty or being reserved at this point, and was just a girl at the arcade.

"Sorry, sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

"Somehow I don't believe that...anyway, lemme see how this works." Issei fiddled with some buttons on the panel in the front of the photo booth, and all of a sudden it whirred to life.

A screen appeared in front of them, shining in from a projector behind. All it had on it was a countdown-

3,

Issei didn't think the countdown would be so sudden. He couldn't really think of a pose, so he just put up a peace sign with his left hand.

2,

Rias realized it was about to take their photo, so she wrapped around Issei's right arm with her left and flashed a peace sign with her right hand.

1

The picture booth flashed intensely bright light, startling Issei and making Rias outright flinch. A shutterstock sound effect played, and the projection started again.

"I think it's gonna take another one." Issei said, preparing. Rias was inclined to believe him- until the photo booth started to whir and the projection stopped, leaving them in near-total darkness.

"Or...maybe not." Rias replied, noticing it was starting to print two large pictures out of the panel.

"What the hell? It's supposed to print a bunch of small pictures, not one big one." Issei looked mildly confused as he took the two photos. He couldn't really see anything, so he handed them off to Rias and started to get up. As he exited, he turned around and extended his hand towards her to help her up.

"Princess," Issei exclaimed sarcastically as he helped her out of the photo booth.

Rias laughed. He sounded _obnoxiously_ similar to her actual servants at home. Once she was up, she spared a glance towards their freshly-printed photo.

Rias was on the left, with a peace sign on her right and Issei's arm in her chest. She had a big grin and her eyes were wide open. He was on the right, with a big dopey smile and his eyes totally shut while he held his peace sign to the left. They were both enjoying the experience, but he was _clearly_ enjoying something else too.

Rias laughed out loud when she saw the picture clearly. They looked just like a normal human couple on a normal human date.

"That bad, huh?" Issei asked sheepishly, wondering how rough the picture must've been to make her bust out laughing.

"No, not at all. I love it." Rias held out the other copy to him, and folded hers neatly in her pocket. She had a sincere smile on her face, and the unexpected intensity of the moment made him just a tad embarrassed. "You do look like you're enjoying your arm in my chest," She followed up, giggling.

Issei choked on his own breath when he saw it, realizing his cherished moment of unexpected second base was forever caught on camera. After a moment, he started laughing with her.

It was just so _cheesy._

"Alright, alright. You got me. Anyway, you ready to move on? Lotta games left to play." Issei said, gesturing around to the arcade to all the stuff they hadn't done yet.

"Let's-"

Rias was interrupted when her cell phone went off.

"Oh, sorry. Give me just a second."

"Sure, sure, by all means."

She pulled her phone out to check it, and sure enough there was a text from Sona.

"Gotta jet?" Issei asked, figuring someone like her was busy yet again.

"I do, but not just yet. I've got a few more minutes, so let's make it count."

"Alright, alright, alright! That's more like it! Remember that claw machine I mentioned?"

* * *

Rias placed a picture frame down on her desk, right beside a small stuffed toy.

"Is that a plushie dragon? Cute."

"A-Akeno! I didn't realize you were still here..."

"A plushie _and _a new picture? Someone's been busy today."

"These are just...souvenirs."

"I can tell. Is that Issei, in the picture?"

"...Yes, it is."

"You two look pretty close there, ufufu. Is that a photo booth? How moe-moe. Oh, did he win you the stuffed animal too? That's so cute~!"

"Shouldn't you be doing something right now?!"

* * *

**To make a long AN short: PMs are super broken right now. If you wanna ask me a question or talk or say hi or anything like that, consider joining my brand new discord server:**

discord .gg /taPjVJJ

**Copy that, delete the spaces, paste into discord or your browser, and join away! Super simple.**

**Anyway, hopefully you all liked this chapter, short as it was. I'm getting a better feel for their relationship and the direction I wanna take this story, and I think you'll like it too.**

**See you next mission! (Hopefully not in like four months this time...)**


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